3Q RETAIL FOOD PRICES RISE—Retail food prices at the supermarket increased in the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey. The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 basic grocery items in the third quarter of 2008 was $48.68, up about 4 percent or $2.01 from the second quarter of 2008.
Of the 16 items surveyed, 11 increased and five decreased in average price compared to the 2008 second-quarter survey. Compared to one year ago, the overall cost for the marketbasket items increased approximately 10.5 percent.
Potatoes, cheddar cheese and apples showed the largest retail price increases. A five-pound bag of potatoes was up 83 cents to $3.38; cheddar cheese was up 31 cents to $4.91 per pound; and apples rose 26 cents to $1.80 per pound.
Other items that increased in price were: pork chops, up 22 cents to $3.62 per pound; vegetable oil, up 18 cents to $3.19 for a 32-oz. bottle; corn oil, up 15 cents to $3.63 for a 32-oz. bottle; sirloin tip roast, up 14 cents to $3.98 per pound; ground chuck, up 10 cents to $2.95 per pound; mayonnaise, up 8 cents to $3.27 for a 32-oz. jar; flour, up 5 cents to $2.62 for a 5-pound bag; and whole milk, up 4 cents to $3.92 per gallon.


INCENTIVES FOR ALLOWING ACCESS TO CRP—Farmers and ranchers will be paid $3 per acre if they open up land they've enrolled in the Conservation Reserve to public activities, including hunting and fishing, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday. The goal of the initiative is to double public access on Conservation Reserve land to 7 million acres by 2013. Currently 3.5 million acres are enrolled in the program. The incentive will be limited to Conservation Reserve participants in the 21 states that already have public access programs. It also will be open to farmers and ranchers with new or existing reserve contracts. Overall, some 34.7 million acres (14 million hectares) are enrolled in the Conservation Reserve, created in 1985, which pays landowners an annual rent to idle fragile land for 10 years or more. The 2008 farm law set a 32-million-acre ceiling for the reserve through 2012. Land is gradually coming out of the Conservation Reserve. Contracts for a total of 9.3 million acres will expire by fall 2010.

RESTAURANT SALES DECLINE FARTHER—The National Restaurant Association said its monthly restaurant performance index for August stood at 98.3, the 10th consecutive month the index stood below 100, connoting a period of contraction for the industry. The index was up 0.1 percent from July. Restaurant operators reported negative same-store sales for the eighth time in the past 10 months. In addition to soft sales, 55 percent of operators reported a traffic decline in August, down slightly from 57 percent who reported negative traffic in July. Capital spending activity remained sluggish by recent historical standards, NRA said. In response to the survey, 41 percent of operators said they made capital expenditures for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the past three months, compared to 42 percent who reported making such investments last month.